A new charity to promote the legacy and values of pioneering nurse, Mary Seacole, launched on Thursday 29 June.

The Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal received donations from thousands of individual supporters and organisations, enabling it to build the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue at St Thomas’ Hospital in 2016.

Now the Mary Seacole Trust, the Appeal’s replacement, will maintain the statue in the grounds of St Thomas’. It will also undertake projects that create a legacy, using Mary Seacole’s qualities, to inspire current and future generations.

Sir Hugh Taylor said at the unveiling of the statue on 30 June 2016: “She [Mary Seacole] is being honoured today for herself, for her contribution which has become her legacy. As she stands proud – overlooking Parliament – she bears witness to what it means to be different in our society and the need to recognise it and honour it.”